WBES-TV was an early UHF television station in Buffalo, New York. The station operated on channel 59 from studios in the Hotel Lafayette in Buffalo. WBES-TV, the second UHF station (and third TV station overall) in Western New York, was very short-lived, signing on September 29, 1953 and shutting down for the last time on December 19 of the same year. An independent station for its entire existence, WBES-TV was plagued by technical and financial problems, the primary factor in the station's failure. Channel 59 was never reissued in Buffalo.
Tom Jolls, at the time a radio personality at Lockport's WUSJ, was one of the station's personalities. He would eventually return to television a decade later, first with WBEN-TV, then more permanently with WKBW-TV, where he spent 24 years as a weatherman. [1]
After WBES-TV was shut down, Buffalo was left with two stations, market leader WBEN-TV (channel 4) and fellow UHF upstart WBUF-TV (channel 17); WGR-TV (channel 2) signed on for the very first time on August 14, 1954, using WBES-TV's broadcast tower.
References
- ^ Pergament, Alan (June 7, 2023). "Tom Jolls, part of Channel 7's legendary 'Irv, Rick and Tom' broadcast team, dies at 89". Buffalo News. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
External links
- Television stations in Buffalo, New York
- Television channels and stations established in 1953
- 1953 disestablishments in New York (state)
- Defunct television stations in the United States
- 1953 establishments in New York (state)
- Television channels and stations disestablished in 1953
- Defunct mass media in New York (state)